CINCINNATI — Cincinnati's 15-year-long ban on traffic cameras within city limits could be up for debate once more, if a motion filed by a Cincinnati council member passes council's muster.
Councilman Jeff Cramerding filed a motion to allow voters to make the decision this November, by putting the option to repeal the blanket ban on the ballot.
The city passed a ban on traffic cameras in 2008 with 51% of the vote that has held strong since — but the last several years have brought an uptick in pedestrian-related crashes, speeding-related incidents and other traffic violations throughout Cincinnati. That ban does not apply if a law enforcement officer is present at the location of the device and personally issues the ticket to the alleged violator at the time and location of the violation.
Cramerding's motion proposes that traffic cameras could help with enforcing traffic laws and free up Cincinnati police officers to do other work.
"Enforcement is a critical piece of traffic calming along with engineering and education, and in conjunction with these two efforts being made by the city, placing cameras at traffic lights in a strategic and equitable manner will increase CPD's enforcement efforts while lessening the need for officers to do so," reads the motion.
The discussion of whether the voters should reconsider the traffic camera ban has sparked multiple times since 2008 — most recently, in 2022, Cincinnati council member Mark Jeffreys pointed to the cameras as a possible way to limit pedestrian-involved crashes.
Still, many Cincinnatians have counter-argued that traffic cameras are not used in an equitable fashion, instead causing an imbalance in policing in Black communities throughout the city.
Cramerding's motion acknowledges the inequitable ways these kinds of cameras have been implemented in the past and promises that council would work to ensure the technology was used responsibly and fairly.
If voters were to approve a repeal of the traffic camera ban, he said council would still have to decide how to implement the technology.
"This is a complex issue and would be examined thoroughly and deliberately from all sides," wrote Cramerding.
One form the final implementation could take may be to limit cameras to school zones, specifically to protect children and their families as they travel to school, the motion says.
When voters banned red-light cameras in 2008, it was largely because the technology would generate more revenue for the city. Voters saw it as a "money grab."
But Cramerding said times have changed and so has state law, so the city wouldn't be able to make money from camera-generated tickets even if it wanted to.
"Any money we bring in, there will be offsetting cuts from our state funding so this will be revenue neutral," he said.
In 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that if local governments use traffic cameras, they must report how much they collect from them and that money is deducted from their state funds.
Before Cramerding's motion to put the issue on the ballot can pass, Cincinnati city council will have to discuss and vote on it.
"I've gone door to door across the city, including in my neighborhood in Price Hill," he said. "As far as specific issues this is one people gravitate towards. I've had many voters say, 'I voted for that in 2008. I made a mistake. I want to vote for that again.'"
Cramerding said if voters approve the ban repeal, it wouldn't mean drivers would start to see cameras installed immediately. The amendment would put the possibility of cameras on the table however, and allow council to discuss if and where to place them.
"That would be a thorough and deliberate process involving a lot of data, a lit of community engagement sessions, talking to citizens, talking to neighbors to see what that would look like," Cramerding said.
Council could discuss the idea as soon as next week, but Cramerding said their vote will likely take place when they return from summer recess in September.
"When I'm in other cities and you see the cameras it does affect your driving behavior and that's a good thing," he said. "This has been a priority for this council and we can't say this is a priority if we don't have every tool at our disposal."
Watch Live:
